Page 85 of Faking It With the Small-Town Bad Boy

against me. “What are you doing, Percy?”

“I’m trying to see your eyes.”

“They’re right here,” I gust, rolling my eyes obnoxiously. His smile

broadens. “What do you need to see them for?”

“Because I want to know how you’re feeling.”

“You could just ask me.”

“I don’t have to ask. I can see it written in your eyes.”

I squint, skeptical. “Go for it, then.”

With a deep, chest-filling inhale, he straightens up his back and

flexes his arms on either side of my body, clinging to the countertop’s

edge. He leans in only slightly, watching my eyes as both of us play a

game of who can’t blink the longest.

He wins.

“You’re mad at me for stopping the fun last night.”

I hiccup, not wanting to reply to that.

“I’m sorry about last night, Leah. I really am. If you want to talk

about it, we can, but I just couldn’t go through with it.”

“No, it’s fine. I get it. You don’t have to explain.”

His brows furrow. “Huh?”

“I understand. You don’t like me like that, and I should have known

that. We’re just going to pretend to date, and none of this

arrangement involves us being intimate together. We’re just stuck

together in this deal. It’s not like you find me attractive.”

I push my hand against his chest and make him inch back a step. He

does so, and I turn to pour myself a cup of coffee in peace. When I’m

done adding my cream and sugar, Percy’s back is to me, cooking

breakfast like nothing was said between us before.

“I’m going to go work in the shop,” I sigh.

I don’t make it to the front door. Instead, he swoops me up so

suddenly that I drop the mug, thankfully in the sink, and hear the

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